Petromax Hobo Stove BK1 Review with Freshly Caught Mackerel

Summer is definitely the time for fishing and we’ve certainly been making the most of the good weather and doing so. We’ve been fishing almost every day, both from the shore and on the water off our kayaks. In my opinion, although harder to launch from and way more prone to big swell, the North Coast is always the best place to kayak and fish from. It’s always a lot more productive fishing wise and the epic scenery and mining heritage gives some amazing views.

I love catching something and rushing home or to the barbeque to cook my fresh fish. It’s brilliant eating a fish that was swimming around only a couple hours ago. However, I’ve always wanted to get cooking even quicker and actually prepare a meal while still out exploring the coastline. That’s why you can see a frying pan strapped to the front of my Fatyak Kaafu and what this post is all about…

After launching, we set off out of the bay and through a huge sea tunnel to one of our usual kayak fishing marks. Under the red cliffs that are dotted with mini shafts and tunnels are some of the most fruitful fishing grounds arounds. We like to drift there for ages spinning, jigging and pulling up numerous bass, mackerel and other fish.

After not very long, I had caught a small bass (which had to go back) and some particularly tasty looking mackerel, it was time to come ashore and prepare my tea. The sun was beginning to set and it was time to get cooking! We had been keeping the small amount of cookery equipment in a small waterproof bag in the storage area of the Kaafu.

Petromax Hobo Stove BK1 Review

Once we had landed the boats, I set about gutting and filleting my dinner. I then got out my new and very small, lightweight cooking stove. It’s a really interesting and unusual stove design, made by the German company Petromax and is called the Hobo Stove BK1. One of the really unique things about it is that it packs down flat and weighs just 560g, which is incredibly light!

When the stove is packed inside it’s very robust and sturdy pouch it is just 20 x 16 x 2.5cm, making it one of the thinnest stoves around. Added to this you don’t have to carry any fuel as you can just use whatever small sticks and twigs you can find! If you really wanted to cut down on weight you could even pack it without the case and save yourself a few more grams.

It has been very ingeniously designed so that it is just made from flat pieces of stainless steel making it highly resistant to corrosion. It is also very strong, enabling you to cook with almost any size or weight pot or pan. Another huge bonus is because of the clever but simple design there is virtually nothing to go wrong or break, which when out in the wild is super important.

The Hobo Stove is very easy to assemble as the stainless steel pieces simply slot together when pushed. I put it together for the first time in a couple of minutes using the instruction and since then I haven’t had to pick them back up. I’m now able to put it together in less than a minute flat. It really is a piece of cake.

Once you’ve assembled the pieces all you need to do is gather a few pieces of tinder and some small sticks and pop them into the Hobo Stove. It has intelligently engineered venting holes that help the branches to burn very hot and aid fast cooking times. What is really clever is that it makes the most of a stacking effect which further helps get the most heat out of it.

I was amazed at how hot this thing burned, it really just had a few sticks inside it and boy did it get hot and fast! I think this is great for backpacking, as you don’t want to be hanging around when out in the cold. Within a minute the pan felt hot enough to cook on and I popped that super fresh mackerel on top.

As you keep cooking, the fuel is obviously going to get used up and will need refilling. They’ve thought of this as well though and on one side of the Hobo Stove there is an access hole that allows you to refuel the stove nice and easily. The brilliant thing about the Petromax stove is that it is so efficient that it doesn’t even need much fuel and if you were to run low, you could easily pick up small sticks anywhere.

The sun carried on setting and the fish was very quickly ready to serve. I was really amazed at how easy it was to cook on. It tasted delicious, taken from the sea a stone’s throw from where it was cooked over driftwood picked from the beautiful Cornish shore.

The hobo stove cooled down very quickly and was able to be packed up minutes after we had finished eating. Popping it back in the kayak, we headed back to the beach where we had launched from not too long ago. The Petromax Hobo Stove is awesome, I love it. It’s light, easy to use and something that will be coming with me on many an adventure on and off the ocean!

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